Lattice’s new low-cost design platform for FPGAs with configurable SerDes

Lattice Semiconductor has announced the immediate availability of the new LatticeECP3 Versa Development Kit, which is ideal for developing leading edge applications in a variety of markets such as industrial networking, industrial automation, computing, medical equipment, defense and consumer electronics. The low cost LatticeECP3 Versa Development Kit is now available for a promotional price of only $99 (Click Here for more information).

The Versa Kit empowers mainstream customers to inexpensively evaluate the capabilities of the high value design blocks – configurable SERDES, cascadable DSP slices, and high-speed DDR3 memory controllers – provided in LatticeECP3 FPGAs.

Customers outgrowing the capabilities of traditional microcontrollers and DSPs will be able to use the Versa kit to develop efficient FPGA solutions to address their emerging high speed design challenges in applications as varied as Video Transmission and Repeaters, Video Image Signal Processing, Camera Controllers, Network Traffic Management and Resilient Network Construction, Solar Panel Controllers and Data Acquisition & Control.

The complete Versa package includes the LatticeECP3 Versa Evaluation Board, seven demonstration systems, 16 free reference designs, and an evaluation license for Lattice Diamond design software for use with the Versa Kit.  The demonstration systems, reference designs, and Lattice Diamond software are available for free download.  The feature rich LatticeECP3 Versa Evaluation Board has both PCI Express 1.1 x1 and dual Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.  The onboard SMA connectors showcase the electrical quality of the low jitter LatticeECP3 SERDES and provide an expansion port for external modules such as SFP transceivers.


In addition, Lattice is offering a limited quantity promotion on five comprehensive IP Suites to accelerate customers’ time to market.  The suites offer ready-made building blocks for solving a variety of complex design problems, such as high-speed data transfer, Ethernet networking, high speed memory interfaces, digital signal processing and video pixel processing.  The five IP Suites normally retail for an annual subscription fee of $995 each.  A limited number of IP Suites licenses are available for a promotional first year subscription of only $99 each.  So, for less than $200 customers can avail themselves of a feature-rich Versa Kit and an IP Suite targeted for their applications.

About the LatticeECP3 Versa Development Kit
The Versa Development Kit is a comprehensive package that includes hardware, software, reference designs and IP that enable customers to develop next generation systems rapidly.  The complete Versa package includes:

• A feature rich, low cost LatticeECP3 Versa Evaluation Board, which contains PCI Express 1.1 x1 and Dual Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
• A variety of demos to illustrate the capabilities of LatticeECP3 FPGAs: PCI Express 1.1 system design demos, Gigabit Ethernet networking demo, high-speed DDR3 memory controller demo and jitter tolerant SERDES Eye demo.
• PCI Express Device drivers for Windows and Linux platforms.
• 16 Free Reference Designs for the LatticeECP3 FPGA Family.
• A Mini USB Cable for FPGA Programming via a PC
• QuickSTART Guide

The latest versions of reference designs, IP cores and Lattice Diamond design software can be downloaded from the Lattice website.  Click Here for more information about the LatticeECP3 Versa Development Kit.

About the Lattice IP Suites
Lattice IP Suites are a family of interoperable LatticeCORE IP cores optimized for Lattice device architectures that enable various technology-specific applications.  The IPexpress tool within the Lattice Diamond Design Environment allows customers to seamlessly access the latest IP cores from the Lattice IP Server and configure them.

All Lattice IP cores can be fully evaluated prior to purchase.  In the free evaluation mode, customers can fully configure an IP core, integrate it into their designs, perform full verification, and even run it in hardware for a limited time.  Purchase of an annual node-locked IP Suite license enables the member IP core to operate in hardware for an unlimited time.  The node-locked license can be used on multiple designs or projects over a one year period. Click Here for more information about how Lattice IP Suites can bring value to design projects.

Pricing and availability
Promotional pricing for the LatticeECP3 Versa Development Kit and IP Suites is $99 each.  The regular list price of the Versa Development Kit and each IP Suite will be $299 and $995, respectively, after the limited promotion.  The Versa Development Kit and IP Suites are available for immediate ordering via the Lattice Online Store and through the authorized Lattice Distributors.